Mother, 30, who treated her baby son as a ‘fashion accessory’ and her ex-boyfriend, 24, are both jailed for 10 years over the ‘brutal’ death of the three-week-old from a ‘horrific’ head injury
- Roxanne Davis and ex-partner Samuel Davies have each been jailed for 10 years
- Stanley Davis died of a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage on March 28 2017
- He also suffered 32 fractures to ribs and nine fractures to his arms and legs
- Video captured police confronting the pair just days before baby Stanley died
- Judge said baby ‘was in pain for much of his short life’ and suffered ‘brutal’ attack
A mother and her ex-boyfriend have been today jailed for 10 years over the ‘brutal’ death of her 24-day-old baby who suffered a fractured skull and brain haemorrhage.
Roxanne Davis, 30, from Gosport, Hampshire, and ex-partner Samuel Davies, 24, of Southampton, were convicted by a jury at Winchester Crown Court of causing or allowing the death of Stanley Davis.
Stanley died in hospital on March 28, 2017 after suffering ‘horrific injuries’.
He had also been admitted to Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital for 32 rib fractures and nine more to his arms and legs on three other occasions.
Sentencing the pair, judge Jane Miller QC said that the baby ‘was in pain for much of his short life’ and suffered a ‘brutal’ attack in which he was violently shaken and could have been thrown across a room.
Jailing her, the judge said David was more upset about herself than her son, who she ‘treated like a fashion accessory.’
Roxanne Davis, 30, is pictured here on police body cam footage when officers were called to her flat two weeks before the infant’s death
Her ex-boyfriend Samuel Davies, 24 (pictured) has also been jailed. He is pictured answering the door of their flat when officers attended on March 11 last year, just over two weeks before Stanley died in hospital on March 28 2017
Baby Stanley (pictured) suffered a fractured skull and a brain haemorrhage before his death
Pair filmed confronting police days before baby’s death
Police officers were called to the couple’s flat just 17 days before Stanley died – when he was only one-week old – after neighbours reported them shouting.
But Davies, who was not the baby’s father, claimed he had been arguing with a friend over some borrowed money.
Davis told officers the same thing, explaining he had mental health problems, was not allowed to work and ‘just kicked off like that’.
She also said he had been smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol, which both defendants tested positive for after Stanley died.
Officers demanded to see inside the flat when they visited the pair on March 11 but both defendants insisted there had just been an argument with one of Davies’s friends over some borrowed money.
Davies answered the door and Davis was then seen holding a tiny baby Stanley in her arms.
She told the police officer, who was recording the exchange on his body camera, that her boyfriend suffers with mental health problems.
Davies meanwhile storms out of the flat and says ‘I don’t want police at my door’ and complains they ‘don’t have a warrant’.
She says: ‘He’s normal but he just kicks off like that. It gets to him not being allowed to work.’
The officer asks her: ‘We can see that he’s been taking cannabis or something like that this evening?’
Davis replies: ‘He does smoke cannabis, yeah. He’s been drinking, He’s been out with his mates.’
She tells them: ‘I’ve got a baby now as well,’ to which the officer replies: ‘I know, congratulations. Because you were heavily pregnant last time I met you,’ – confirming he had visited the couple before.
The judge said: ‘Stanley was in pain for much of his short life.
‘The medical evidence is he would have cried inconsolably for 10 to 30 minutes, which means both of you would have been aware of his distress because the flat was so tiny.
‘One of you may have been absent when one of the sets of injuries was inflicted, but not all.’
Davis sobbed during the hearing and as she was taken down to the cells, she shouted out: ‘He’s a murderer.’
The judge told her: ‘Much of your upset is self-serving crocodile tears. Your upset was more about you rather than Stanley.’
She added: ‘You were delighted to show him off to family and friends, but when you were back at home and he wasn’t a fashion accessory, you were happy to hand him over to your partner.’
The court heard that the former couple, who are not married but share similar surnames, had a fractious relationship, with the police being called to the property on March 11 by neighbours who reported shouting coming from the one-bedroom flat they shared in Gosport.
Both defendants were tested positive for taking cocaine and cannabis after they were arrested following Stanley’s hospitalisation.
The first sign that Stanley had suffered any harm was when a health visitor found a bruise behind his right ear on March 16 which the couple had tried to conceal but which was later misdiagnosed by a paediatrician as a birthmark.
Their trial heard the first sign that the infant had suffered any harm was when a health visitor found a bruise behind his right ear.
Davies told his and his ex-partner’s trial that Stanley was looked after by him, his mother and her family, and added: ‘That baby from day two was passed around like a parcel.’
Prosecutors added that on March 15, Davies had taken a photo of a newspaper article about a mother who had taken her dead baby on to a bus to avoid detection over the child’s death from a head injury.
Baby Stanley (pictured) suffered a fractured skull and a brain haemorrhage before his death
The court also heard how she had posted a video on Facebook on March 20 – the day before Stanley was taken to hospital – of him having a fit, along with the comment: ‘My baby is 16 days should he be doing this already.’ The boy died a week later.
Giving evidence, Davis told the court that when her son was born she was ‘over the moon’, and added: ‘I had my whole world in my hands.’
After Stanley’s death a crowdfunding page was set up to raise money for his funeral, which accumulated £2,300 in total.
His mother had written on the crowdfunding page that her son had been her ‘miracle baby’ after being told she would not be able to have children when she was younger.
The infant died a week after he was admitted to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth (pictured) in a ‘serious condition’
James Newton-Price QC, prosecuting, said: ‘They were very clearly warned about the risk of harm to the baby by the police and the social worker when they warned them they couldn’t behave in an argumentative or volatile way.’
Katie Thorne QC, defending Davis, said that she suffered from depression and added: ‘Miss Davis’ case has always been that she didn’t cause the injuries. Miss Davis did accept her strong feelings of guilt in failing to protect Stanley.’
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Sally Howes QC, defending Davies, who was not the biological father, said he had ‘a great sadness and a great feeling of guilt’.
She added: ‘He is clearly a very immature man and his diagnoses of ADHD and emotionally unstable personality disorder are recent and will have to be addressed at a later stage.’
Derek Benson, chairman of the Hampshire Safeguarding Children Board, has confirmed that a review is being carried out of the handling of the child’s care by the authorities.
A timeline of the Stanley Davis case
Both Roxanne Davis and Samuel Davies have been remanded in custody and await sentencing on December 7.
4 March 2017: Stanley Davis was born
11 March 2017: police were called to an argument at the flat of Roxanne Davis and Samuel Davies
15 March 2017: Davies had taken a photo of an article in The Sun newspaper about a mother who had taken her dead baby on to a bus to avoid detection over the child’s death from a head injury
16 March 2017: Davies said a large bruise was found behind Stanley’s right ear
20 March 2017: Davies had phoned a doctor, saying: ‘I have serious mental health problems and I have been using a lot of cocaine to deal with it.’
20 March 2017: Davis posts a video on Facebook on March 20 – the day before Stanley was taken to hospital – of him having a fit, along with the comment: ‘My baby is 16 days should he be doing this already.
21 March 2017: both Roxanne Davis and Samuel Davies tested positive for drugs
28 March 2017: Stanley dies of a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage
23 October 2018: trial of Roxanne Davis and Samuel Davies begins at Winchester Crown Court
28 November 2018: Roxanne Davis and Samuel Davies are convicted of causing or allowing the death of her baby Stanley at Winchester Crown Court
7 December 2018: Roxanne Davis and Samuel Davies are jailed for ten years at Winchester Crown Court
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